There is no braver officer in Napoleon’s cavalry than étienne Gerard – especially in his own opinion. Whether kidnapped by gangs of brigands or outnumbered by enemy troops, the plucky little soldier is constantly gallant, chivalrous and ready to face any danger, even if he doesn’t always think before he acts. With great gusto Gerard recounts the swashbuckling exploits and adventures of his glittering military career – carrying out secret missions for Napoleon, eluding capture by the Duke of Wellington, making a daring break from an English prison, rescuing ladies in distress, duelling to the death against the dastardly Baron Straubenthal and even saving the day at the Battle of Waterloo.

There is no braver officer in Napoleon’s cavalry than étienne Gerard – especially in his own opinion. Whether kidnapped by gangs of brigands or outnumbered by enemy troops, the plucky little soldier is constantly gallant, chivalrous and ready to face any danger, even if he doesn’t always think before he acts. With great gusto Gerard recounts the swashbuckling exploits and adventures of his glittering military career – carrying out secret missions for Napoleon, eluding capture by the Duke of Wellington, making a daring break from an English prison, rescuing ladies in distress, duelling to the death against the dastardly Baron Straubenthal and even saving the day at the Battle of Waterloo.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of NYRB Classics, a handpicked anthology of selections from the series. In Greek mythology, Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of red thread to guide him through the labyrinth, and the Red Thread offers a path through and a way to explore the ins and outs and twists and turns of the celebrated NYRB Classics series, now twenty years old. The collection brings together twenty-five pieces drawn from the more than five hundred books that have come out as NYRB Classics over the last twenty years. Stories, essays, interviews, poems, along with chapters from novels and memoirs and other longer narratives have been selected by Edwin Frank, the series editor, to chart a distinctive, entertaining, and thought-provoking course across the expansive and varied terrain of the Classics series.

You do very well, my friends, to treat me with some little reverence, for in honouring me you are honouring both France and yourselves. It is not merely an old, grey-moustached officer whom you see eating his omelette or draining his glass, but it is a fragment of history. In me you see one of the last of those wonderful men, the men who were veterans when they were yet boys, who learned to use a sword earlier than a razor, and who during a hundred battles had never once let the enemy see the colour of their knapsacks. For twenty years we were teaching Europe how to fight, and even when they had learned their lesson it was only the thermometer, and never the bayonet, which could break the Grand Army down. Berlin, Naples, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon, Moscow-we stabled our horses in them all. Yes, my friends, I say again that you do well to send your children to me with flowers, for these ears have heard the trumpet calls of France, and these eyes have seen her standards in lands where they may never be seen again. Even now, when I doze in my arm-chair, I can see those great warriors stream before me-the green-jacketed chasseurs, the giant cuirassiers, Poniatowsky's lancers, the white-mantled dragoons, the nodding bearskins of the horse grenadiers. And then there comes the thick, low rattle of the drums, and through wreaths of dust and smoke I see the line of high bonnets, the row of brown faces, the swing and toss of the long, red plumes amid the sloping lines of steel.

Classic Historical Fiction Works by Arthur Conan Doyle (The White Company/Sir Nigel/The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard/The War in South Africa, Its Cause and Conduct) by Arthur Conan Doyle: Embark on a journey through time with this collection of classic historical fiction works by the esteemed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The White Company takes readers back to the medieval era, following the adventures of a young archer in the Hundred Years' War. Sir Nigel follows the heroic exploits of a young knight during the reign of Edward III. The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard offers entertaining stories of a daring French officer during the Napoleonic Wars. The War in South Africa, Its Cause and Conduct provides Doyle's first-hand account of the Boer War as a war correspondent. Key Aspects of the Book "Classic Historical Fiction Works": Historical Settings: Doyle's vivid descriptions transport readers to different historical periods, immersing them in the events and culture of the time. Adventure and Heroism: The collection celebrates acts of heroism, chivalry, and camaraderie in times of war and conflict. War Correspondence: Doyle's experiences as a war correspondent provide unique insights into the realities of military engagements. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, best known for his Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Beyond his detective fiction, Doyle's historical fiction works showcase his storytelling brilliance and passion for exploring various historical periods and themes.

In a follow-up to the previously published volume The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, Arthur Conan Doyle presents more of the recollections of the fictional retired French brigadier. Equal parts humor writing and classic adventure tales, these stories are sure to be a hit.

Excerpt from The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.